Scanning Color Negative 4x5 Film

[neil poulsen]

Who in our USA does a good job scanning color negative 4x5 film and can get good colors?

Who's the best? And, who does a good job for a reasonable price?

Is drum scanning necessary to obtain a high quality scan?

[joho]

There is an alternative to your question —
have prints made [say size A3] from the negatives first, then home scan the photos …??
scanner being A3. therefore the bypass of the scanning of the negatives.

Please note, it is more difficult for drum scans of negatives due to the orange film base tint.

just an idea …

[koraks]

There is an alternative to your question —
have prints made [say size A3] from the negatives first, then home scan the photos …??

Unless you're making optical RA4 prints, or have that done (at considerable cost!) in a lab, printing a color negative these days virtually always involves first scanning it. Given this, it would be kind of odd to first have a lab scan it and print it, and then scan the print again.

Concerning the drum scan remark - since people have been successfully drum scanning C41 film for decades, I don't think it's much of a problem. At least it can be worked around. Besides, the same would be true for any other kind of scan; the orange mask is inherent to the film, after all. A scan from a flatbed will also have to be inverted and corrected for the mask. The only difference is that the scanner software may hide this part of the process from the user. It still happens.

@neil - your last question about a high quality scan: how do you define 'high quality'? What's e.g. your resolution or maximum print size requirement?
From a flatbed, expect roughly a 2000dpi real world resolution limit on a decent scanner (Epson V600 / V800). Practically, that means you can get a good (~360dpi) 20x25" print from a 4x5 from a consumer-level flatbed scan.

[Serge S]

I used to have optical prints done from color negatives (6x7) and then have them scanned at a commercial printer for catalogues & brochures (they used a high end flatbed). It worked well. A photo editor at a magazine suggested it to me.
I would also do my own B&W prints & scan them. It worked better at the time, as the consumer scanners (mid 90's) were not as good as the current V800.

Unless you're making optical RA4 prints, or have that done (at considerable cost!) in a lab, printing a color negative these days virtually always involves first scanning it. Given this, it would be kind of odd to first have a lab scan it and print it, and then scan the print again.

.

[Bruce Watson]

Please note, it is more difficult for drum scans of negatives due to the orange film base tint.

I'm a former drum scanner operator. I've drum scanned a ton of color negatives and did not find it either difficult nor time consuming. What I did find, is that scanning color negatives gave me higher quality scans than scanning color positives. This might have been due to the intrinsically better color accuracy compared to color positives; IDK. At least some of it was due to the photographers I scanned for; if they matched the dynamic range of the scene they photographed to the limited optical density range of the color positive film then scanning color positives was also easy.

As a photographer myself, I only used 4x5 negatives, both color and B&W, almost entirely Kodak TMY2, and Portra 400. Both scanned easily and gave beautiful results. Just sayin'.

[MultiFormat Shooter]

Who's the best? And, who does a good job for a reasonable price?

I have been happy with Alex Burke's work, both negative and transparency.

I have no affiliation with him, other than being a satisfied customer.

[Mark Sampson]

Booksmart Studios in Rochester did a great job for me some years back. Not cheap, but excellent work. In fact I need to contact them, as I've found a few color negs in my files that need printing.
Edgar Praus, as mentioned above, does top-quality work, although I've never had him scan anything.
In Tucson, I used Photographic Works- but they've closed their lab business and only offer workshops now.
I recall member here Lenny Eiger as the master of scanning- IDK if he's still in business, haven't heard from him here in a long time.

[Joseph Kashi]

What about using a plug-in like Negative Lab Pro to do the processing of LF color negatives after personally scanning with a decent film scanner like a used Epson V700, V750, or V800 or a used/newV850 and the Epson wet scanning film holder that works up to 5x7 ? Total cost would not be unaffordable, and likely a savings over time compared to the cost of decent lab scans?

[Alan Klein]

I'm a former drum scanner operator. I've drum scanned a ton of color negatives and did not find it either difficult nor time consuming. What I did find, is that scanning color negatives gave me higher quality scans than scanning color positives. This might have been due to the intrinsically better color accuracy compared to color positives; IDK. At least some of it was due to the photographers I scanned for; if they matched the dynamic range of the scene they photographed to the limited optical density range of the color positive film then scanning color positives was also easy.

As a photographer myself, I only used 4x5 negatives, both color and B&W, almost entirely Kodak TMY2, and Portra 400. Both scanned easily and gave beautiful results. Just sayin'.

I've found that color negative film is hard to get the color right, especially with Ektar. What process do you use?

[neil poulsen]

I've found that color negative film is hard to get the color right, especially with Ektar. What process do you use?

That's the reason that I want to send this 4x5 color negative to a service. Hopefully, they can get the color right. I was thinking of sending a Type C photograph that I printed long ago of the negative. It shows the colors that I want.

I'd like to go as high as a 32"x40" print, which I calculate to about a 120MP file. Is that possible, even with FlexTight technology?

Thanks for all the input.